What if: Another Duo
by Swordsman289
Summary: A U.S. Marine gets stuck in Ratchet's galaxy. Paired up with his own robotic pal, they will join Ratchet and Clank, for better or worse. One-Shot short story. Rated T for violence and swearing. First story of a series. Sneak-peaks of new projects.


A/N: I've worked my butt off on this one. I based this on a dream I had about 6 weeks ago. I had to do this based on memory, because I don't have the time to replay the first game. Highschooland band got in the way. Also, I don't plan to write the entire first game with Ramirez in it, just the beginning and the end. Anyway, please enjoy and leave reviews, but nothing harsh, please.  
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What if Ratchet and Clank had two other members in their group, another person and a robot? What if they were there in the very beginning? How would it happen? What if the person was not from their galaxy?

***

In a robot factory in the planet of Quarto, the production of sentry-bots for Executive Chairman Drek turned to the unexpected. The next two robots were defective; they didn't meet any of the combat standards. The defective robots were like twins. They were small, about the size of a small backpack; one had green eyes and the other blue. Bothhad a storage cavity on their lower abdomen. As they both scanned the conveyer belt room, they spotted an Info-Bot. Once they reached it, the Info-Bot showed a recorded of Chairman Drek telling the people of the planet of Novalis that they were next on the making of his new planet for his race. Horrified of what they saw, they decided to lookfor a hero to stop him. After the robot with the green eyes stored the info-bot, one of the sentry-bots saw them and tried to stop them. Fortunately, there was a slide that leads to a cockpit of a fighter ship. They ran past the sentry, went down the slide, started up the ship, and escaped. Once out of the atmosphere, they were trailed by enemy sentries. They tried to lose them, but it was impossible. Once they reached the planet of Veldin, they saw a medium sized fighter, and they tried to hail it.

***

On the spaceship, a young man wearing spacesuit/combat armor, light brown hair, and dark brown eyes piloted the ship. This was Sgt. Louis Ramirez's worst job ever. In the past few years, NASA and the U.S. Air Force had developed a spaceship that can jump between galaxies, but they wanted a volunteer. Louis volunteered for the job, but when he told them that he had no flight experience, there were some…complications. He had to get permission from Command and train in flight simulations for the next three years. Three weeks ago, the flight took place in Washington. After he gained enough altitude, he activated the hyper-drive unit, but a powerful solar flare scrambled up the co-ordinates and caused him to go to a random galaxy. After the jump, the hyper-drive unit was fried. Now, he stopped the ship in front of a desert planet that had scattered large bodies of water.

Louis sat on the cockpit's seat, arms crossed, and mad. _Great…Just. Great. _Louis complained in his head. _I'm stuck in the middle of an unknown galaxy, with little food and water and I have enough oxygen and fuel for another week…I'm doomed._

Besides the supplies, he carried a standard-issue M4 carbine with detachable ACOGand iron sights, full metal jacket bullets, an under-mounted M203 grenade launcher attachment—withsix grenades for it, and five full extended clips which carried 50 bullets. He also had five hand held fragmentation grenades. His side arm was standard-issued M9 pistol with three full clips of 15 bullets.

Meanwhile, he heard some-kind distress signal on his monitor. He pressed a button on the console and said, "This Sgt. Ramirez of the United States Marine Corp. Identify yourself." The screen was static, until it showed a video footage of an unknown craft's cockpit. It looked empty for a second, until two small, metallic gray spherical heads of robots popped in. Ramirez thought that the robots were pretty small. One had green eyes while the other had blue eyes, both had a small antennae with a red orb, and on their torso had some-sort of door, which they could store things.

The one with the green eyes saw Ramirez. "Help, we are being attacked by Executive Chairman Drek's ships." It—_he—_said.

_Holy Crap! It's speaking my language! _Ramirez exclaimed in his mind

"Please, get them off us. We have information that could be the survival of the galaxy," the robot continued.

_Great…a minute talking to the greatest discoveries of man-kind and already I need to help them. _Ramirez then regained his composure."Alright, give me your location. I could help anyway possible," Ramirez replied. The ship was armed with dual, prototype 6-barrel Laser Gatling Guns and lock-on missiles. He hoped it was enough.

"Thank you, we are flying towards to the planet Veldin. It is the desert planet withscattered bodies of water," the one with the blue eyes said.

_At least I'm near it._ He turned off the safety on the weapons and flew at max speed to find them. He saw over a dozen ships trying to shoot the one in the lead. He locked on the ship in the back and opened fire. The ship had shields, but the shields discharged and the enemy craft eventually exploded. Ramirez saw that the ships were after him now, but he knew some maneuvers. He was in a deadly dogfight. Ramirez did corkscrews, loops, U-Turns, and other evasive actions. He was in a disadvantage because they all had shields and he was running out of ammo. To make matters worse, the enemy managed to hit the robots' ship, causing them to go into an out-of-control barrel roll towards the surface of the planet.

Ramirez cursed out loud and was about to go after them. However, one of Drek's ships fired at Ramirez's engines. "That Son-Of-a-Bitch!" That's what he managed to yell before he lost control of the ship and plummeted towards the planet's surface.

***

On the surface of Veldin, at the Kyzil Plateau, a young Lombaxnamed Ratchet was working on a space ship he made from scratch. Ratchet was a feline, golden fur with occasional brown stripes on his back and ears, and he had the tail of a lion. He wore green cargoes, a leather hat, and leather gloves. He had four fingers and a thumb, unlike other species which had two fingers and a thumb. After installing the engine, Ratchet took a few steps, looking at what he accomplished. The ship was made out of junk found throughout the Valley. He then pressed a button on his glove which allowed him to connect to Gadgetron, which they gave him the instructions on how to build his ship.

Gadgetron's help desk clerk then said, "Final step: a robot ignition system. Thank you for using the Gadgetron Help Desk service."

Ratchet then sighed in disappointment, he needs a robot with installed flight ignition protocols but he doesn't have one. He looked towards the sky, losing hope that he'll ever leave this backwater planet. He then saw two comets headed towards the valley. He was about to run inside his garage but when he looked up again; the comets were two ships crashing towards the planet. The one in the lead crashed about a mile north of his position, while the other one tried to gain control. It stopped corkscrewing but it did a rough landing and flipped at least half of a mile south of the other ship. Ratchet wondered what happened, so he grabbed his bomb glove, placed his wrench on his side, and headed towards the crash sites.

***

Everything Ramirez saw was spinning and he felt his stomach lurched. He tried to steer the opposite direction it spins and the same thing happens when it spins the opposite way. After a few minutes of fighting to gain control, the ship stopped spinning. At first, it looked like he succeeded, but once he saw the ground only 80 meters away, he realized that he can't stop the collision. He pulled the yoke as much as he can, hoping to land rough. Once the belly of the ship hit the ground, he jerked forward and felt pain throughout his entire body. Darkness was all he saw and a huge explosion was what he heard.

After a few, long minutes, Ramirez's vision started to clear up, and saw everything upside down. He felt for the seat buckle and unstrapped himself. He fell on the ground on his back. Getting up, he looked throughout the wreckage to look for his gear. He found all of his ammo and weapons, and he was relieved that the grenades didn't detonate. He kick through the remains of the glass window and crawled out. Once he got out, he saw that he was surrounded by combat droids. They had a spherical torso with its green "eye" in the center, had a unicycle like leg, except of a wheel, it was a ball of light, and one of its arm is a canon or a blaster.

"Oh crap…" Ramirez moaned.

The robots fired a small beam of plasma at him. It wasn't a full range weapon, as the beam can go to a certain length, about three meters at best. He ducked and ran towards cover. He hid behind a boulder and returned fire. The barrage of 5.56x45mm NATO bullets weren't powerful enough to penetrate the armor of the robots. Instead, he aimed for the green eye of one robot. He was rewarded with a sharp explosion of one of them. He used short control bursts since his ammo was limited. After destroying five of them, a pair of robots showed up to kill him. He loaded up the grenade launcher and fired into the pair. The explosion plus the fragmentation worked well against them. He then looked north and saw the smoke rising from the other crash site, about 750 meters away. Just as he was about to go to the site, a group of ten robots showed up. Ramirez stayed behind cover and was ready to do anything to survive.

***

Ratchet hid behind a boulder as he watched the fight at the crash site. Ratchet doesn't know who he is, but all is certain, he needs help. He armed his bomb glove, aimed at the middle of the group, and threw the grenade.

***

Ramirez saw the explosion in the middle of group. As soon the golden light faded, the entire group was now a smoking heap. He wondered who'd saved him.

"Hey! You alright?" a voice said behind him. Ramirez turned around and saw a cat-like creature, only a few inches taller than his elbow, stepped out from cover. The creature ran up towards him and said, "Hey, I'm Ratchet. Are you alright?"

Ramirez was utterly speechless. Here, on this unknown planet, was an organic creature that can speak the same language as his. He cleared up his throat and replied, "I'm Sgt. Ramirez. Yeah…I'm ok." Ramirez looked north and pointed. "We got a pair of crashed robots about 4/5's of a klick north of our position." Ratchet looked confused at the word klick, so Ramirez clarified, "A klick is a thousand meters, so the robots crashed about 750 meters north of our position. They need help."

"Fine, fine, but I know the valley more than you do, so _you _follow me," Ratchet ordered.

_Damn…he's just as bossy as the Sergeant Major back when I was a Pfc._, Ramirez thought. "Fine, lead the way."

After climbing small cliffs, fighting some kind of spiked frogs, and destroying more robots, they arrived at the second crash site. Both of them hid behind a boulder and looked past it. The combat robots were searching through the wreckage, looking for the two small robots. However, a large group of the robots were watching while being under a large platform of rock balanced by two, fragile pillars. Ramirez checked his launcher ammo, relieved that he still has enough. He tapped Ratchet's shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey, I got an idea: see those robots underneath that slab of rock?" Ramirez asked. Ratchet looked and nodded. "I got a few grenades for my launcher left. How about you and I destroy the supporting pillars, causing the slab to crush them?"

"Good idea," Ratchet admitted.

Ratchet armed his bomb glove and Ramirez loaded up the M203 grenade launcher. "On the count of three," Ramirez warned. "One, two, three!"

Ratchet threw a bomb to the pillar on the right while Ramirez fired the grenade to the pillar on the left. After the fiery blast, the pillars shattered. The slab of rock then fell and crushed the group of robots. The search party looked towards where the grenades came from and charged their weapons. Ramirez broke out of cover and opened fire.

"Are you crazy!? Get back here!" Ratchet yelled. Before he could stop Ramirez, one of the robots was in range of hitting Ratchet with the plasma beam. Ratchet ducked when it fired its weapon, grabbed his wrench, and swung at the robot's leg. Once it was down, he got on top of it and bashed it repeatedly.

Ramirez was running and gunning every combat droid in sight. He was doing pretty well at first, until one flanked him. While Ramirez was occupied, the robot fired its beam of plasma. It didn't hit anything vital, but it did graze his right arm. Ramirez cried out and grabbed the wound. It was a wide plasma burn that covered most of his bicep. Ramirez turned around, while clutching the wound, and fired with one hand. He was lucky, the bullets managed to hit the droid's eye. The droid fell back and remained still.

Ratchet was doing better than Ramirez. He was more athletic; he can do side and back flips while throwing bombs. Ratchet saw Ramirez getting hit and decided to stick close to him. They fought together, destroying every droid that was in the area.

Once the area was cleared, Ramirez sat down besides a boulder and inspected the wound. It was a horrible burn. The skin in the middle was burned off completely while the rest was charred like over-grilled steak. Ramirez grunted in pain, everything—including the air—stung the wound.

Ratchet came over and inspected it. He then took out a glass small box from his cargoes pocket. Inside was a blue sphere with smaller orbs of lights orbiting it, just like the electrons of an atom.

Ramirez looked at the box and was confused. "What is that?" he asked.

"It's Nanotech," Ratchet replied, "It heals any wound from the inside out. Now, quit being a baby and hold still." He then opened the box and the sphere broke up into more, but smaller spheres and entered Ramirez's body. The nanites inside were doing their job. Before Ramirez's eyes, the burn started to heal itself. The burn went away and new skin flowed over the burn. During this, Ramirez had an extremely itchy sensation on his bicep, and resisted the urged to scratch it. Once it was over, it was good as new. However, the armor plating that covers the bicep was melted.

Flexing his arm, Ramirez said, "Thanks." Ratchet then slapped him in the back of the head. Hard. "Ow! What the hell was that for?!" He rubbed the back of his head.

"For running out of cover like an idiot!" Ratchet replied.

Ramirez then looked at the ruined armor-plating and groaned. "Damn…do you know anyone that could fix this?"

Ratchet looked at melted plate and replied, "Maybe. If you send the armor to Gadgetron, they might repair it, but just looking at it, I doubt it: the armor uses ancient technology. Maybe you can buy a new set."

"Oh, well…help me look through the wreckage. Those two robots can't be far." Together they looked through the wreckage. After moving a sheet of metal away, a thought came to Ramirez. "Ratchet? What's the currency of this galaxy?"

Without stopping at what he was doing, Ratchet replied, "Bolts."

Ramirez was stunned. "Bolts?! Don't you use bolts in making machinery?"

"There's a difference: currency bolts have a number—which determines how much it is—engraved on it. Oh yeah, check the other robots to see if they have some on them. You could use it."

Doing what Ratchet said, Ramirez took a break from lifting scrap metal and searched the destroyed robots. After searching all the bodies, he found 4000 bolts. He can probably buy a new set of armor. He then returned and helped Ratchet. After a while, they found them. They were unconscious, and were contracted, looking like small backpacks.

"We can go to my place and wait for them to wake up," Ratchet said, "There's a Gadgetron weapons vendor near it, too."

So they took the long trip back to Ratchet's garage. Ramirez saw Ratchet's ship that he was making. He also saw the vendor not too far from the garage. Ratchet placed the robots upright on top of a crate. Ramirez started to walk to the vendor. The vendor was a small box, and once he approached it, it opened up and expanded to three screens. On the top left screen, weapons and ammo were displayed, the top right: armor. On the bottom screen, there was a reptilian vendor. There was a platform in the middle of the box, probably where people get their purchases.

"Hey there, how can Gadgetron help you?" he asked.

"Umm…do you have armor for humans?" Ramirez asked.

Almost inaudible, the vendor murmured, "Humans? Wow…thought they died out millennia ago" he then cleared his throat and added, "Well, we might, let me check….you're lucky: we have a commando flight/combat suit for you. That would be 2000 bolts." Ramirez made the transaction and the armor was teleported to his position. It was pearlescent green, and the helmet had a light blue visor that covers his eyes. "It might be old," the vendor continued, "but it's better than the suit you have. Anything else?"

A/N: really cheap for armor, I know, but as the vendor said, Humans are not around anymore, so the armor lost value over time.  
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Ramirez thought about it for a few moments. He remembered how much his Assault Rifle did little damage to the robots. He held up his Assault Rifle and asked, "Can you redesign this weapon, make it shoot plasma instead of lead caps?"

The vendor thought about it for a moment, and replied, "I don't know, it's ancient. Just place it here on the tray and we'll try." Ramirez did what was said, and the screens reverted back into a box. Ramirez decided to put the suit on. Once everything was on, it felt comfortable. So comfortable that it feels like skin. The visor showed him his vital signs, the armor's condition, current weapons and ammo, and (when carrying a weapon) a targeting reticule. There was also a one-ear headset, probably for communication. 30 minutes later, the cube reopened and on the left screen showed the schematics and a model of the actual redesigned M4. "Your weapon was a little difficult for our scientists, but they managed to redesign it. It's made from raritariummetal, holographic sight—witha flip-down sight on the back—and now fires plasma bolts. The grenades for the launcher are now plasma. The weapon, with 10 magazines and 6 grenades, would cost 2000 bolts." Ramirez made the transaction and received the weapon and the magazines. "The ammo, plus the grenades, would cost 10 bolts per ammo. Anything else you need?"

Ramirez inserted a clip, pulled the charging lever and released it. The chamber was now loaded. He aimed at a boulder, checking if the sight was true. Satisfied, he slung the weapon on his back and replied, "Nope, nothing else."

The screens then reverted to the box and Ramirez walked back to Ratchet's home. Once he got back, Ramirez sat against a crate. Ratchet was busy working on his ship, doing some maintenance. Ramirez decided to stencil his rank, last name, and the part of the military he's in on the chest plate.

"Hey Ratchet, got a close-range weapon I could use?" Ramirez asked.

Looking over his shoulder, Ratchet replied, "Well, there's another Omni-Wrench 8000 in the garage. It's simple, but it still packs a punch."

Taking the advice seriously, Ramirez got up and entered the garage. He found the extra wrench on the tool table. He picked it up and was surprised how light it was despite its size. His first thought that it was crude, but he remembered how much damage Ratchet created with that wrench, so he decided to keep it._ Hell, Ratchet's wrench did better than my Assault Rifle._ He hung the wrench's leather strap on one of his belt's hooks. He went back to the crate, sat down, and rested his back against the crate. Ramirez was about to fall asleep, until he heard some footsteps. He looked around and saw the two robots walking around, trying to find out where they were.

"Hey," Ramirez said, "you guys are awake. We brought you here after we saved you from the combat droids. I'm Sgt. Louis Ramirez."

Ratchet turned around and also introduced himself, "Name's Ratchet."

The robot with the blue eyes said, "So you saved us? You have our gratitude."

The robot with the green eyes hastily said, "Please, we don't have any time. Do you know where we can get some assistance? We have information that is vital to the survival of the solar system." He then looked at Ratchet's garage and added, "Do you know where we can find that fellow?" He pointed to a poster on the garage's wall. It showed some muscular man in a full green suit with large, black boots and a huge Q on his chest.

Ratchet looked at the poster and replied, "Well he's on the radio every week, but other than that, no. Hey what's with this 'save the solar system' thing?"

Ramirez then got up, curious on what they have to say. "Yeah, I like to hear about this, as well."

The green-eye robot tookout an Info-Bot from his storage cavity. The bot expanded its mouth and showed a recorded video of Drek's plan. All of them watched and listened intently. After the message was played, the Info-Bot returned to the storage cavity.

"The people on that planet are hosed," Ratchet yelled out. "Well, good luck with your mission, or whatever."

Ramirez was annoyed; Ratchet didn't even offer to help. "We can help, Ratchet; we can use your ship."

"That's correct," the blue eyed robot inquired. "If you can take us to co-ordinates contained in this info-bot, we could get a different means of transportation and find that man."

Ratchet shook his head and added, "Well, even if I wanted to, I can't. I'm missing a critical component of the ship."

The droids scanned the ship and said at the same time, "A robotic ignition system."

"Hey how did you do that?" Ratchet asked, dumbfounded.

"Sir, we are installed with the latest of robotic ignition systems," the green-eyed robot informed them, "We are able to start any spacecraft we choose."

"We can help you start that ship, but you have to take us to Novalis," the blue-eyed robot offered. Ratchet was thinking about it for a few moments. "You might want to hurry on that decision. We have company."

Close by, they saw some fighters landing in the valley. Thinking that it might be more droids, Ratchet replied, "Deal."

They managed to fit all four inside the home-made ship. The robots started up the ship and they slowly rose up into the air. This was Ratchet's first time flying a ship; he was so nervous that he was shaking. However, it was going pretty well. Once they were out of the atmosphere, Ratchet let out a cry of joy.

Ratchet looked over his left shoulder, saw Veldin, and said, "So that's the planet I was stuck for all this time."

Ramirez chuckled. Ratchet was acting like a child. Ramirez saw Ratchet wasn't holding the yoke, so he placed a firm hand on Ratchet's shoulder and said, "Hey, keep your hands on the yoke, Ratchet."

"What? Oh, sorry." Ratchet looked towards the green eyed robot and asked, "Hey, do you have a name?"

He looked at Ratchet puzzled. _Does he mean my serial number? _He replied, "My serial number is B5429671." Ratchet accidentally rocked the ship and the robot hit his head with the window. When he hit the window, it made a "clank" sound.

Ratchet heard it and got an idea. He didn't like calling the robot by its serial number, so he suggested, "How 'bout I call you Clank?"

The robot thought about it for a second, then replied, "That is…fine, Ratchet."

Ramirez looked at the blue-eyed robot and asked the same question.

He replied, "Well, my serial number is B5429672."

Ramirez was thinking of a name for the robot. He was stumped, until he remembered one of his history class's lessons. _Lewis and Clark…Louis and Clark._ It was an old, but amusing pun, but would the robot like it? "How about Clark, do you like it?"

The robot thought about it, then he too replied, "That is fine, Sgt. Ramirez."

"Just call me Louis," Ramirez replied. He sat back, thinking about what's going to happen to all of them. Are they going to stop Drek in time? He doesn't know, but he does know one thing. This was the start of a rocky, but great friendship between all of them.

Two months later…

It was a starry night on Kyzil Plateau, Veldin. Although it looks peaceful, Veldin is on the brink of disaster. Executive Chairman Drek's Deplanitizerwas orbiting in the planet's atmosphere. It was a giant, orbital platform with a huge laser cannon that was designed to destroy Veldin. On the laser's command platform, our four heroes, Ratchet, Ramirez, Clank, and Clark, are in a fight to the death with Drek in his giant mech suit.

"So, all four of you are back to the beginning of your adventure," Dreksaid with a murderous tone, "now, this place will also be the end of it!"

Ramirez armed the Gold Blaster and Ratchet armed the Gold Devastator. Clark and Clank were on the backs of their respective owner, and each stored all of their weapons. All four were not discouraged by Drek's threat.

"Why'd you do it, Drek?" Ratchet asked Drek, "Why'd you destroy Orxon, your own planet?"

"Want to know why? Money! Lots of it! As soon as my new planet is populated, I'll destroy it and the whole thing starts all over again."

"You're a sick and twisted Blarg, Drek!" Ramirez insulted.

"Incoming, Drek is releasing his Dark Gadgebots," Clank and Clark warned at the same time.

True to their word, a group of Dark Gadgebots were trying to hunt down their prey and trying to bite them. The group tried to stay away from them, trying not to waste their ammo. Then, Drek released a ring of fire around his mech. Ratchet had no trouble jumping over the ring of fire, Ramirez, however, had to use Clark's Heli-Pack attachment to jump over it. The Gadgebots, however, got vaporized as soon as the ring touched them. Ratchet and Ramirez opened fire. Bullets bounced everywhere and the Gold Devastator's Rockets bounced and continued to hit Drek.

Drek, using the mech's thrusters, he flew up and landed on the platform's huge activation button. The laser was charging up to fire. Ratchet continued to distract Drek while Ramirez and Clark ran to the Deactivation button. Using the Thruster-Pack, Ramirez jumped up and Clark pointed the Thrusters skyward. The added boost gave Ramirez enough force to push the button down. The laser then lost its charged up energy.

The fight lasted a long time. Drek would use his Gadgebots to distract them while he activates the laser. Either Ratchet or Ramirez would distract Drek while the other deactivates the laser. However, later in the battle, their weapons ran out of ammo. All they heard the clicks of the weapons as they fired nothing.

"Ha! You're out of ammo, looks like it's the end of all of you!" Drek gloated.

"Oh, I don't think so," Ramirez replied, "Ratchet, time to take out our secret weapons."

Reaching behind them, both Clank and Clark handed Ratchet and Ramirez a huge, multi-barreled rocket launcher. They were R.Y.N.O.s (Rip Ya a New One), the most powerful weapon of the galaxy. They got them from the smuggler at Black Water City. Ratchet paid for one, while Ramirez used…a different method. Still, the sight of the R.Y.N.O.s drained the color from Drek's skin.

"Oh….crap…" Drek groaned.

Ratchet and Ramirez squeezed the trigger of their weapon. The launchers fired seven rockets whenever the trigger was squeezed. The wave of rockets homed onto Drek's mech, and impacted. The chain of explosions caused immense damage to the mech, and one of the rockets hit the mech's bottom thruster. The thruster gave one huge boost, causing the mech to flip in the air, and landed on the platform's axis. The laser cannon was built in the center of the axis, and axis can flip. Drek saw the platform coming at him, he panicked and tried to escape. In his panicked frenzy, he accidentally pressed the thruster button. The mech's thruster gave one last, powerful burst and sent him on a collision course to his new planet.

After they saw the cloud of dust on the artificial planet's surface, Ratchet and Ramirez put away the R.Y.N.O.s.

"Well, now what do we do?" Ratchet asked them all, "We can't let that planet be populated. Got any ideas guys?"

Clark tapped Ramirez's shoulder. "Look behind you."

Ramirez looked behind him. The gun was pointing towards Drek's planet, and the activation button was ready. He got the idea. He tapped Ratchet's shoulder and said, "Ratchet, lookbehind you." Once he turned around, Ramirez pointed to the gun, then the button, and pointed to the planet with his thumb.

Ratchet got the idea. "You know what, I think we all are thinking about the same thing."

Ratchet went to the button and pushed it down. The cannon charged up and fired at the empty planet. Within seconds, Drek's Planet detonated. Ratchet and Ramirez gave each other a high five. However, their victory was short lived. When they looked up, they some planetary debris was falling towards them. They impacted on the platform, but not on them. They were flown back from the shockwave of the collided material. They all fell of the platform, but Clank got a grip on the platform's rim. His arm was stretched beyond safety limits. Ratchet grabbed Clank's left foot, Ramirez got Ratchet's right foot, and Clark got Ratchet's tail. Ratchet yelped in pain as Clark was hanging from his tail.

Ratchet looked down and said, "Whew. That was close." He looked up at Clank and saw him not pulling them up. "Um…Clank? You can pull us up now."

Clank scanned his arm and replied, "The servos in my arm appear to be…broken."

Ratchet's and Ramirez's heart rate spiked. At the same time, Ratchet and Ramirez asked, "Broken? As in…'fall to our deaths' b-broken?"

"Um…Yes…" Clank lost his grip and they all fell. Ratchet and Ramirez screamed as they fall towards the ground below. Both of them closed their eyes, they didn't want to see when it's coming. However, thanks to Clank's and Clark's quick thinking, they activated their Thruster-Mode. Before they could hit the ground, Clank and Clark pushed Ratchet and Ramirez to the side, causing their momentum to disperse to the side. They survived the fall, but with a few cuts and bruises.

Ratchet got up and gave a sigh of relief, "That was close."

Ramirez got up and groaned in pain. "It could've been a lot worse. Good quick thinking guys."

Clank looked at his left arm and said, "My arm needs repairs."

Ratchet replied dismissively, "Aw you'd be fine." Then he walked away, going back to his garage.

Ramirez looked at him and was mad. _That's it! I'm sick and tired of his attitude!_He then looked down at Clank and Clark. Clank was sad that Ratchet left him for scrap. Ramirez told them softly, "Hey, stay here. I'll go talk to him." He then ran towards Ratchet. When he caught up with him and yelled, "Ratchet, you can't leave a friend behind!" Ratchet didn't paid attention and continued walking. Ramirez scoffed at him and added, "You know what, you're no better than Drek. You would abandon your friends and continue on with your life!"

Ramirez continued to argue with Ratchet, but he didn't notice that Ratchet was deep in thought. He was sadly staring at the ground as he was walking. _It was wrong for me to do that to Clank. We're a team, friends, even brothers._ He stopped walking and stared at the starry sky. _What kind of friend leaves an injured friend behind? He needs me…I won't leave him behind. _He turned around and ran towards Clank and Clark with Ramirez was close behind him. As Ratchet ran up a hill, he prayed that they were still there. He saw them and yelled, "Hey, Tin-men!" Clank turned around and "smiled" as he saw Ratchet. Ratchet ran up to them at full speed. Once he reached them, he bent over and panted. He never ran so fast. He got up and asked, "Where do you think you're going?" He felt a bit awkward at his new attitude. He scratched the back of his head and added, "We…need to fix that arm of yours."

Ramirez caught up with and took some deep breaths. "Hey, let's go home, guys." Ratchet walked besides Clank and placed his right hand behind Clank's head as Clank cradled his left arm. Ramirez picked up Clark and placed him on his shoulder. Together, they went to Ratchet's garage.

The next day…

Ramirez and Clark stood in front of their spacecraft. The sleek purple BlargianFighter was refueled and ready to fly. Ramirez carried a large duffel bag filled withclothing and other necessities while Clark carried the weapons and other items that couldn't fit in the bag. Inside the craft was a crate filled with technology that could help Earth. Nanotech, blue-prints, weapons, and more. Ramirez has to go back, his family is worried about him.

Ratchet and Clark sat on a boulder behind Ramirez. Ratchet asked sadly, "Do you have to go, Louis?"

Ramirez looked behind him and replied, "Yeah, I have to go, Ratchet. I need to go home, my family and friends are worried about me, and I need to let them know that I'm okay. I need Clark so he could start the ship." Ratchet and Clank looked at the ground sadly. Ramirez gave a small smile. He walked towards and placed a hand on Ratchet's and Clank's shoulder and added, "Hey, I'll try to get Command to give me orders to stay here. Keep your hopes up, guys." Ratchet and Clank then gave a small smile. Then, Ramirez and Clark walked towards the spacecraft, opened the cockpit's screen and jumped inside. Clark activated the ship and entered the co-ordinates. Ramirez looked out the window and waved the two goodbye. They gained altitude, exited the atmosphere, and vanished in a flash of light as they entered hyperspace.

Ratchet and Clank saw the brief flash of light. They got off the boulder, and walked back to the garage, went through a door on the left wall, and entered Ratchet's subterranean home.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
A/N: Next section is more about the history of both characters. Ramirez's past was easily to make, but Ratchet's...let's just say that my immagination was strained. Also, I left hints for future projects based on this.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Three months later…

"I TOLD YOU, I DON'T WANT TO BE INTERVIEWED AT THIS TIME!" Ratchet screamed at the top of his lungs. He and Clank were surrounded by a sea of paparazzi. Ratchet's voice was drowned by the waves of questions that the reporters are asking him. Ratchet and Clank were inside the garage when the reporters attacked. The two managed to get through the door and locked it. They slumped against the door and Ratchet took deep breaths. _This is getting ridiculous!_ They got up and tried to relax. Clank went on the computer while Ratchet sat on his couch and watched TV. It took hours for the reporters to leave, granting the two some peace.

It was nearly dark outside, and Ratchet heard his stomach growled. He was about pick up his phone to call take out from a new fast-food restaurant called "Galaxy Burger", when he heard someone knocking on the front door. He growled, _Won't they leave me and Clank alone?!_

Ratchet yelled, "I thought I told you to leave us alone!"

"Is that how you gonna treat returning friends?" the person replied.

Ratchet quickly got up. He recognized the voice. _Is that…?_He ran towards the front door and opened it. On the other side stood Ramirez and Clark. Ramirez has changed during through the three months; he looks like he's finally relaxed. He wore his standard issued ACU uniform and carried the same duffel back he used when he left. His emblem is different now: instead of just three chevrons, there were also three rockers, and between the inner chevron and rocker was a star.

"Louis, Clark!" Ratchet tackled them and gave them a brotherly hug. He then turned around and yelled down the house, "Hey Clank, they're back!" Clank ran up and did the same

"Command did give the orders to stay here," Ramirez said, "I can stay here, but they did say that I have to return when they need me." He then heard his stomach growl. "Oh yeah, got anything to eat?"

"Yeah, I was about to order some burgers from Galaxy Burger," Ratchet replied.

"Burgers?" Ramirez asked dumbfounded, "Is that you've been eating while I was gone? You won't get a healthy growth from just eating burgers and drinking soda! How about today I cook?"

"What? No, I'm your host and I should cook for you," Ratchet replied.

Clank looked at Ratchet confused. "What do you mean, Ratchet? You can't even cook a simple soup. I had to do most of the cooking."

Ratchet's ears dropped with embarrassment. "Clank…"

Ramirez chuckled. "Don't worry Ratchet," Ramirez said, "I can cook for today and teach you later."

They entered the home and the placed Ramirez's stuff in the guest room. Ratchet's home was some-what small: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a living room—which serves as a kitchen and a laundry room. Ramirez looked throughout the kitchen, getting his ingredients ready. Ramirez was the best cook in his family. In about an hour later, the dishes were done. The main course was Barbeque Teriyakichicken dripping withsauce. There were also other dishes like mash potatoes withgravy, corn on the cob withbutter, and a small pot filled withsteamed rice. There were also glasses of orange juice for Ratchet and Ramirez. Everything made Ratchet's mouthwatered with anticipation. Ramirez also prepared two mugs of hot oil for Clank and Clark. Ratchet got the plates and the utensils. Soon, they got their food and sat on the couches.

Between bites, Ratchet asked, "So…how is…your family?"

Ramirez took a quick swig of juice and replied, "They were relieved when they saw me. Especially my two younger brothers and my older sister."

Clank took a sip of his oil and asked, "Are your siblings in the military like you?"

"Yeah, my entire family is in the military. Mom and Dad met each other after Operation Desert Storm. Dad was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Rangers and Mom was a Captain in the Engineer Division. They're retired now. James is a Private in the Army Rangers, John is a Corporal in some kind of multi-national Task Force, and Katrina is in the Army Nurse Corp."

(Hmm...Pvt. James Ramirez in the Army Rangers and a multi-national Task Force...sound familar?)

Ratchet then looked at Clark and asked, "How did Earth react to your appearance?"

"It was…hectic," Clark replied, "As soon we came to—Washington DC, yes?—we were immediately swarmed by reporters. It was difficult for us. However, Louis was reunited with his family and was promoted to Sergeant Major, the highest enlisted rank in the military. Overall, it was okay."

Then Clank asked Ramirez, "Did the supplies that you brought back to your planet help?"

Ramirez drank more of his juice and replied, "Most definitely, it helped us recover from the war we had."

Ratchet nearly choked on a piece of chicken. Once he recovered, he asked, "What? What happened?"

Ramirez's grip on his glass tightened, he even caused cracks in the glass. "We were in war with Russia three years before the warp-drive project. We had an undercover CIA operative working for a Ultranationalist terrorist...named Vladimir Makarov. Makarov and his goons slaughtered everyone in an airport in Moscow. However, Makarov knew about the operative, killed him and escaped. Since the Russian authorities only founded an American that killed the civilians, they blamed it on our country. Our General, Shepard, sent his multi-national Task Force to find evidence. My brother, John, was in that Task Force. However, near the end of the war...my brother discovered that Shepard and Makarov planned the war, together. We lost over 30,000 men in a nuclear blast in the Middle East. Shepard wanted to show the world the strength of the U.S. Military. John gathered evidence and saved the rest of his team from General Shepard's troops. John and his two commanding officers hunted him down in the Middle East...and captured him alive. John had Shepard underneath his boot and a gun pointed to his head...but he wanted him alive and let America see who started the war. Shepard was charged with war crimes, treason, global terror, and more and was executed--if I get another chance I'll spit on his grave. John is now a war-hero...not for the amount of kills he has...but for ending the war without the cost of another Russian life."

* * *

A/N: Yes, I do plan to make a story of John Ramirez.

* * *

Ratchet then asked, "Are you proud of him?"

"Yes...I was proud that he brought that bastard home and let the country that Shepard loves decides his fate...and I'm still goddamn proud. My entire family is. The entire Earth is. Our country's relationship with the Russia is still rocky, but it's improving."

Ratchet realized that Louis was getting a bit angry at the returning memories, so he wanted to change the subject. Ratchet then asked curiously, "So what's it like to have brothers and sisters?"

Ramirez was a bit surprised at the question. _Why is he asking that? _"Well, it has its ups and downs. We usually don't get along with each other, especially when we were kids. We sometimes get at each other's throats, but it was all fun and games. We still love each other, despite how much we get on each others' nerves." Ramirez then saw Ratchet's ears dropped, but barely. _I think I know what's going on_. "Ratchet…did you have a family?"

Ratchet's ears dropped entirely. "Well…not exactly. I was raised by one of the neighbors here. He wasn't my species...in fact I don't know what he was. He always wore some kind of armored suit. He was kind, and was almost a father figure to me. In fact, this was his home. However, on my 8th year…he died. He tried to protect me from a pirate raid, and died for it. He did teach me how to survive on my own…before he passed on."

(Hey...someone must have raised Ratchet as a baby.)

Ramirez placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Ratchet. I didn't mean to make you remember something bad."

"Nah…I was expecting that question when I asked you. I only find one thing strange about him: he never told me his name."

"Did he tell you about your biological family?"

"Not really. All he said was that I was separated from them. He didn't tell me if I had any brothers or sisters or if they were dead or alive. I lived alone for most of my life." Ratchet's eyes started to water up.

Ramirez wanted to cheer him up. "Ratchet, you have a family, you have us." Clank and Clark nodded to his statement.

Ratchet wiped his eyes and replied, "Thanks, guys." It was late, and Ratchet was feeling tired. "Hey guys, I'm going to bed. I get tired fending off reporters for hours end."

"'Kay, good night pal," Ramirez said.

Ratchet placed his dishes in the sink and went to his room. Clank and Clark went to the recharge stations at one side of the room, plugged themselves in, and went into hibernation mode. Ramirez stayed on the couch and watched the TV, and later fell asleep.

In his room, Ratchet stared at the ceiling, thinking about the year's events. He seemed…happy. Happier than before. Before the whole Drekthing, he thought it was good to be alone. He was afraid to make relations with people because he didn't want to feel the pain he felt when he lost the man who raised him. But now he isn't afraid now. Ramirez, Clank, and Clark gave him the love of brothers. The love of a family. Something he hasn't felt for almost eight years. _Life's…going to be great with them around._ Ratchet thought before he fell into a deep sleep.


End file.
